Island



(No Model.)

W. GORLISS. PIRE'PROOF SAFE.

Patented Nov. 7, 1893.

HRH modes ms NAYIONAL LITHOBRAPHKNG COMPANY,

WASHINGTON. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE;

WILLIAM CORLISS, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

FIREPROOF SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 508,207, dated November 7, 1893.

Application filed June 8, 1892. Serial No. 435,923. (No model.)

' constituting an inner safe with a space hetween. The intermediate space may be simply air, or preferably occupied by porous earthen-ware, or analogous material, either in one piece or in many pieces. I will, for brevity, designate the two shells one within the other, as two safes, referring to one as the outer safe, and the other as the inner safe. Each has an outer and an innerface of metal and afilling of material especially adapted to resist fire. The outer face of the outer safe constitutes the exterior of the finished structure. I make it of stout plates of charcoal iron, formed in disks or otherwise, with corners rounded on a considerable radius. The safe, when finished, is rectangular, but with all its corners rounded. There are neither points nor angular edges on the exterior of the structure. The door frame or jamb surrounding the exterior of thedoor has the front and back in separate pieces, with provisions for retarding the conduction of heat from the I exterior inward. The edges of the door and the inner faces of the doorfrarne are formed in steps with one of the steps near the interior of the safe finished to form a tight fit, the

other steps being easy fits, but aiding to prevent the circulation of flame and hot gases inthe joints. A peculiarly formed flange extends outward from about the mid-depth of the tate the manufacture of the outer part and also of the inner part of the door frame, I produce each in four pieces, and mill or otherwise finish the interior surfaces before applying them together. These four bars are strongly joined at the corners. I employ a thin coating of asbestos, inserted and held in the firmament joints in the form of paper or woven fabric, to aid in retarding the conduction of heat from the exterior inward along the metallic parts in the edge of the door and in the door frame. Portions of the joining surfaces are cut away to further reduce the conduction of heat from one of the metallic parts to another.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification and represent what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the entire safe. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of a portion of the door-frame- Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a portion of the door-frame at and' adjacent to the upper left-hand corner. It is in the plane of the door at about the midthickness thereof. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through a portion of the door and doorframe on a larger scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they appear.

A is the exterior front piece of the body of thesafe, certain portions being designated when necessary, by additional marks as A. This outside front piece may be of iron or soft steel of aquality capable of being flanged. A sufficiently large piece is raised to a high temperature and treated rapidly between two' suitable dies operated by hydraulic press or otherwise, and the edge flanged on a curve,

as indicated at A. After this is completely formed a clean-out rectangular hole is pro- A similar treatment is long piece extending quite around and bent at two points at the top and two at the bottorn, or it can be in two or more pieces riveted or otherwise secured together. I will eted to the front pieceAand back piece B, as shown in Fig. 1. p

' K and L are plates flanged on a curve in IOO describe it as made of a single piece, D, riv- 1 separating from each other the inner and outer safes at the back, the sides, the bottom of the safe. j .The door is formed in two parts, one exterior to the other, with a space between.

E, is therectangular framewhieh formsthe the top and edge of the outer door. It is formed with an internal flange E on its front edge, and a) still Wider flange E on its back edge. On

-j .the-front=isbolted a stout plane plate Efiwhich -may be hard-iron or, steel; secured by rivets. :The exterior'oftheframe E,*is formed with a stepyas 1 shown-,- adaptedto match 'approxilm'ately to a-corre spondin g step r in the door 1 frame. I

F-is a-reetangulan frame-of ironor steel rabbeted, to which are riveted two plates Ff, +1 ,a-little distance apart.

tween theset-woplatesconstitutes-the dividfi'ng-space between theouter andinner layers The outer edge'of this or parts of the door.

- plate F, forms a step tomatch approximately -=to a corresponding step inthe door 'frame. -G'isthe edge'of what I term the inner-doon. 1

-It' isformed with an internal flange-G", at'its frontedge,and:with a still broader internal *to the inner door.

G secured by b0lts,-not shown. The extei- -rior of the main part G, is formed with two steps g,-'g the former matched loosely-and the innermost matched tightly, each to a corresponding step in the door frame.

'- It-.is d-ifiicult tomaintain a'tight-joint-at -allt-hesteps nnderthe varying condi-tionsatr f;ta-in'ed-when the safe is exposed toahot fire -andso nearly'close a joint at other points as -to prevent thetransportation 'of heat inward by any considerable-circulation of-- air.

ne'r-face 'ofthedoor. --part G and the considerable rabbet shownbegand-certain parts are more expanded by heat than others. My construetioninsures a tight jointiat the .inneredge under all conditions G 'is a rectangular frame, and G is a con,- tinuons-plate extendingaeross the whole-in; These-are bolted tothe tween them accommodates the locking bolt H,

The-door f-rameorjamb isformed in eight constitute the outer-portion of thedoorframe -and'four parts J, being mitered together to consti-tute the innerportion of the door frame}.

which is riveted" tot-he front part A. 5 The hback-oriinner edge of each part I has a flange 1 Each end ofeach part I has a flangeli spending flanges of the adjacent parts I 'by bolts orri'vets. The frontedge of eachpart The" space bei- J has a wide flange J the outer edge of which is. itself; flanged as indicated by J The flange J at the outer'edge of the inner door frame J, is united to the flange I which forms the back edge of the front part of the door frame,

"by bolts, as shown. Each end of each part J has a flange J 3 at an angle of twenty-five degrees each strongly bolted toa corresponding I zflangejon the adjacent part J, thus makinga unit of the inner part of the door frame, in

' the same manner as the outer parts constizztnte a .unit.

.The ,inner ,parts, J, of the door frame extend inward somewhat beyond the inner face of the door. To these extensions are riveted plates M, the back edges of" which are riveted tocorner pieeesM, to which latter is riveted aback piece M "These platesM and-M- -constitute the inn-er metallic 'shell ot the' 'safe. There-maybe with-in this a lining'of'mahogany orothe-r suitablewoodmot shown; "Provisionsarem'ad'efor retarding the conduction of heat-betweenthese parts. These-provisions amount'of bearing along the edge adjacent to the door, andaronnd -the' sev'eratholding bolts; and second, a thin but con ti'nnous layer of=asbestus paper isi applied -be-tween :these -parts, so" that the bolts alone con'stitu-teathe -flange'G formingaportion of a back plate The aperture in'the'cen} ter of this back plate'is closed by a steel plate principal meansby which heatoan traverse from the-exterior part I to the-interionpart J of 'the permanently unitedpart's I. J-Jofthe jamb.

The spacebetween the-outer shell A A; B B, D; and the inner shell K K, is filled with anon-conducting material P. 5 This 'may-be plaster-of-paris; the earthymaterial remaining-from the product-ofso'da=water, clay; a mixture of clay and =alum,-or 'any other material-adapted to promote the' fireproof qualities-of the safe and not liable to introduce -other-difficulties. 'Plastenof-paris made from ordinary sulphate of lime, calcined and mixed with water and pou red in'in a-fl-u-idcondi-tion, forms agood fire-proofdefense 'fonthe contents of the safe, but-is objectionable from its liability to give outmoisture'and make the contents of thesafe damp. "The success of my invention depends onno special char- -acterof. filling; I can use :any' filling that is found-suitable to serve in-'=other -fi=re-proof safes. The space -betWeen theeasing-I& L,

whieh'is the I innermost 0f the intermediate wpftllls, four parts I,-beingmitered together to casings-and the inner-or lini ng=casing M-M -'M ,-'is' tilled Wl-tllthWSEtlTlGflP a d ifiere'nt filling. This spaceis mark'edq. soalso-the space in the door between the front plate- E The-front edgeof each part I has a flang'eI and the outermost intermediate'plate F is in the-door, that between the plateG -andthe L, L, is similarly filled or nearly filled with porous earthen-ware correspondinglylettered. Such filling contributes to the strength, and constitutes a barrier to the radiation of heat. It is a good non-conductor. Such porous brick or earthen-ware is preferable to empty space, forbidding the transmissionof heat by radiation, and also forbidding the transmission ofiheat by. convectionj. both otwhich modes of conveying heat from the exterior of the safe to the interior are liable to obtain when air-alone is inclosed. n

Making the back plate 0 removable facili+ tates the introduction of the filling. It is joined by bolts 0, which are inserted through holes in the plates 0 and B, and are. tapped into a frame B which is mounted on the inside of the back plate B, and serves as a reinforce for its inner edge. This plateis of sufficient thickness to receive and strongly hold the bolts. v

Itwillbe understood that the safe may. have all the ordinary accessories; for examplait is mounted on small wheels, the door is provided with stout hingesand with one or more shafts leading inward from theexterior to operate the locking and bolting mechanism.

I claim as my invention 1. In a double fire-proof safe, having two separatethicknesses of fire-proof material, arranged one within the other, with an interval between them, guarded by thin metallic sheets K and L, the porous earthen-ware'N introduccd in such interval and adapted to retard the circulation of the air and consequently the convection of heat across such interval, all substantially as herein specified.

2. In a double fire-proof safe, having two separate thicknesses of fire-proof. material, each supportedvindependently at the front, with an interval between them, the metallic sheets K, L, forming respectively the inner.

face of the outer thickness and the outer face of the inner thickness, and the porous earthenware N interposed in the space or interval between these sheets, all arranged for joint operation substantially as herein specified.

3. In a fire-proof safe, the door having a front portion E,formed in a separate piece from the rear portion G, and firmly united by bolts and flanges, with a space between such flanges to reduce transmission of heat by conduction, as herein specified.

4. In afireeproof safe, in combination wit the safe filling in two nearly independent.

structures, arranged one within the other, with a space between, and with shells K, K, L, L, bounding and defining such space, the mid-flange J on the exterior of the doorframe, and the lip J on such flange, said shells being supported on such lip, as herein specified. r

5. In a fire-proof safe, the door-frame, or jamb I, J, in two separate constructions, flanged together with portions of the joining surfaces of the flanges 1 J 5 cut out or sunk. to avoid contact, and reduce the transmission of heat, as herein specified. 1

6. In a fire-proof. safe, having the metal parts connecting the exterior and interior, in

separatelyformed pieces, the spacesin .the

joining flanges to reduce the conduction of heat, and also the combination therewith of asbestus paper or analogous incombustiblej' 

